Our Story
Hookpod Ltd was created in 2013, but our story started many years earlier. In 2005, British brothers and inventors Ben & Pete Kibel started working to solve one of fishing’s biggest environmental challenges – seabird bycatch in longline fisheries. Working closely with bycatch expert Dr Ben Sullivan, BirdLife International and the wider fishing industry around the world, the team spent several years perfecting what fishermen need: a solution that fits seamlessly into the fishing operation, allowing them to catch fish but not birds.
By 2013, the design was finalised and trials were showing good results. Private investment was then raised from our first handful of shareholders to create the company and begin the task of development and marketing. Over the last decade we have raised funds to continue this work via crowdfunding projects in 2014 and 2018, widespread support from the conservation world and bringing new shareholders on board; all dedicated to achieving a world without albatross bycatch on pelagic longlines.
